1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to firearms such as pistols having manually manipulable safety mechanisms operable by the shooter's thumb of the pistol grasping hand. Methods of or for readily converting existing pistols to include normally-on, momentary-off safety mechanics in accordance with the invention are also disclosed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art devices referred to as manual safeties for firearms generally fall into two categories. The first category are those safeties which are present on the firearm and are deactivated or placed into the "off safe" position by the shooter merely grasping or mounting the firearm in the shooting hand of the shooter. A good example of this type of safety is the "grip lever" safety as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 984,519 issued Feb. 14, 1911 to John M. Browning. The purpose of this type of safety on pistols is to prevent the pistol from discharging when the pistol chamber is loaded, ready to fire and the pistol is not properly positioned in the hand of the shooter.
The second category of safeties are those which are manually activated or deactivated by the decision of the shooter. These manual safeties are characteristically situated on the frame or the slide of the pistol in the proximate area of where the shooter's thumb is positioned when the pistol is maintained in the proper method of gripping the pistol. These manual safeties are positioned so as to allow their manipulation by the thumb of the shooter without compromising the secure grasp of the pistol allowing it to be held in readiness for immediate use. These manually operated thumb safeties have two positions, that being the "on safe" or activated position and the "off safe" or deactivated position. These safeties are held in one of these positions, usually by a spring-loaded mechanical device designed into the pistol, until the shooter changes the position of the safety of his own volition.
A good example of a pistol equipped with both a grip lever safety and a frame mounted thumb safety is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 1,070,582 issued Aug. 19, 1913 to John M. Browning. This Browning pistol is for all practical purposes the pistol known as the Government Model of 1911 or the Model 1911 A1 pistol. This pistol may be kept or stored in several conditions of readiness for use. By far the most advantageous condition for the purpose of self defense is with a loaded magazine, loaded chamber with the hammer at full cock and with the thumb safety in the activated, or "on safe," position. When the pistol is in this condition the pistol operator can best bring the pistol into immediate use by grasping the pistol by its grip, which deactivates the aforementioned grip safety lever by pressing it down into the deactivated or "off safe" position, then pushing off the thumb safety with the thumb of the shooting hand and pressing the trigger when the pistol sights have been aligned on the selected target. When the thumb safety is pressed down into the off position it is held there by a detent designed into the thumb safety which when in this position is aligned with a spring loaded plunger mounted on the frame of the pistol. The thumb safety is secured in the "off safe" position by this detent and plunger arrangement until pushed, intentionally or inadvertently, into the activated or "on safe" position by the thumb of the shooter.
Other examples of prior art which typify attempts to increase the potential safety of the aforementioned Browning designed pistol (U.S. Pat. No. 1,070,582) can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,159,080 issued Dec. 1, 1964 to George H. Freed. In his attempt to make the pistol safer to use Freed compliments the manual or thumb safety on the pistol by attaching a rotating linkage which on one end is manipulated by the thumb of the shooter while the thumb is positioned at a lower position on the grip panel of the pistol. The movement of the linkage by the thumb can move the thumb safety to its on or off position as desired by the shooter. The mechanical nature and operation of the thumb safety is not altered with this device. The prime advantage of Freed's design is apparently to allow the shooter to control the thumb safety while keeping the thumb at a lower position on the grip of the pistol. An obvious disadvantage to the design is that while the device may allow easier manipulation of the thumb safety for some shooters the device also increases the likelihood of the thumb safety being inadvertently pushed into its "off safe" or deactivated position by nature of its added dimension to the grip panel of the pistol while the pistol is carried on the person of the shooter.
Another example of prior art which attempts to increase the potential safety of the Model 1911 style pistol can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,147 issued Feb. 25, 1992 to Walter Pastor. In his design Pastor recognizes the potential probability of accidental discharge with the pistol and presents a designed addition and alteration to the pistol which requires a distinct procedure to deactivate the inherent safeties on the pistol in order for it to be discharged. Pastor relates how the pistol can be carried on the person or kept in a readily accessible place and brought into action quickly. He presents the problem where if the pistol is kept or carried with a loaded chamber, the hammer cocked and the thumb safety on and the shooter grasps the pistol the thumb safety could be inadvertently deactivated by error. He adduces the shooter would then proceed in handling the pistol possibly unaware the thumb safety was deactivated. His design when added to a Colt 1911 Model pistol would prevent the thumb safety from being deactivated until his device, which takes the place and function of the grip safety, is itself deactivated first.
Yet another example of prior art which attempts to increase the potential safety of firearms in general is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,254 issued Dec. 27, 1983 to Sidney J. McQueen. McQueen's design provides an additional manually operated mechanical safety to the firearm by providing an obstacle to the insertion of the trigger finger of the shooter into the trigger guard of the firearm. This device merely adds an additional mechanical obstruction to prevent the firearm from being discharged. For pistols which already have a manual safety inherent in their design this device would merely slow the shooter from bringing the pistol into action which could, as a consequence, endanger the pistol handler if he were under imminent attack by an assailant.
An example of prior art which requires a constant and deliberate action in order for the pistol to be discharged is found in U.S. Pat. No. 978,092 issued Dec. 6, 1910 to Joseph H. Wesson. Wesson's design prevents the discharge of the pistol unless a thumb lever is constantly depressed by the thumb of the shooter. It is apparent when looking at Wesson's patent that his device is to be designed into the internal mechanism of the pistol thereby blocking the internal operating parts of the pistol to keep it from discharging until, and unless, the shooter depresses an external latch or lever mounted on the exterior of the frame of the pistol by the thumb or a finger of the shooter. This latch or lever must then be held or depressed into a particular position in order for the pistol to be discharged.
Wesson does not describe how to modify or restructure an already manufactured and existing pistol to include a normally-on, momentary-off safety, and particularly a Model 1911 or 1911 A1 pistol of which there are millions in existence. Wesson additionally fails to suggest or recognize the importance of having such a normally-on, momentary-off type safety arranged such that the safety can be deactivated to allow firing of the firearm by either of the shooter's single hands on the pistol wherein the shooter can use either the right or left hand on the same pistol, such as with ambidextrous type safeties.
A pistol such as Wesson's of U.S. Pat. No. 978,092 having the normally-on, momentary-off safety with the thumb depressible safety release lever on only one side of the pistol has shortcomings which become apparent under certain critical self defense conditions. For example, if the shooter normally shoots with his right hand and the thumb safety lever is a normally-on, momentary-off safety and is only on the left side of the pistol frame as shown and described by Wesson, and the shooter's right hand or right thumb should become disabled during a critical period of self-defense, then, due to the injury the shooter would not be able to hold the pistol in his right hand and depress the left side thumb safety lever to fire the pistol. However, if the pistol were to include two functionally identical thumb safety levers, one lever on either side of the frame (as herein described as one embodiment of the present invention) and is normally on-safe, momentary-off, then the injured shooter could switch hands on the pistol and still be able to depress the thumb safety lever and discharge the firearm, a situation wherein it can be appreciated that absent the second safety lever on the other side of the pistol frame and with the pistol having the normally-on safety, the shooter would be unable to defeat the safety and fire the pistol with his single remaining uninjured hand and thumb, and therefore there could be very serious consequences absent such a pistol being ambidextrously arranged. Another reason for having a pistol normally safe-on, momentary-off and ambidextrous in regards to the thumb safety levers to defeat the safety, is that when a right hand shooter is taking cover behind an object such as a wall which terminates to the shooter's left side, the shooter taking cover because shots may be fired at him from an enemy, the right hand shooter in order to shoot beyond the wall would need to maintain the pistol in his right hand in order to be able to defeat the normally on-safe thumb safety lever on the left side of the frame with his right thumb, and such would require the shooter to expose much more of his body as a potential target in shooting around the edge of the wall than if the pistol were arranged ambidextrous or had a thumb safety lever also on the right side of the pistol frame. If in this scenario the pistol had both a left and right side thumb safety lever, the shooter could switch the pistol to his left hand and be able to place his left hand thumb atop the right side thumb safety lever to move the lever and pistol into the off-safe position wherein the shooter could fire the pistol around the edge of the wall with far less exposure of his head and chest as a potential target.
Additionally noteworthy in the prior art are pistols which include thumb manipulable safeties which are structured for ambidextrous use wherein a portion of the safety is positioned on each of two sides of the pistol to allow manual manipulation of the safety with either the right or left hand thumb. Such ambidextrous safeties are not known to have been structured to have any "normal" position, but are structured to be flipped into either on-safe or off-safe positions and to remain in such position until again flipped into the opposite position.
Most, if not all pistols manufactured having a single thumb safety levers have the thumb lever on the left side of the pistol or pistol frame for use of the pistol in the right hand. Such pistols have been difficult to use safely by left handed shooters, and thus ambidextrous safety levers, one lever on each side of the pistol were produced as after-market add-ons to allow left hand thumb control of the manual safety and shooting of the pistol.
Although there are other ambidextrous safety structures in use in the prior art, an example of an ambidextrous safety may be examined in U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,769 issued Nov. 15, 1983 to H. Mueschke.